Bistro short ribs from the share pack — red wine, low heat and no hurry

Order beef ribs braised in red wine at a bistro and you're mostly paying for patience — which you already own. This is that dish, made honestly at home: ribs browned hard, a base of onion, carrot and celery, half a bottle of decent red, and three unhurried hours in a low oven while the sauce turns glossy and the meat gives up all resistance. Spoon it over mash on a cold Saturday night and there's not a restaurant within cooee doing it better.

3 hrs 55 mins 4 servings Prep 25 minsCook 3 hrs 30 minsMain CourseFrench

Ingredients

  • 1.2kg Your Farmer grass-fed beef ribs (one rack), cut between the bones into individual ribs
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 brown onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 stick celery, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 375ml (1 1/2 cups) dry red wine
  • 375ml beef stock
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Mashed potato, to serve

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160C. Season the ribs generously and brown them in the oil in a heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high heat, in batches, until deeply coloured on every side — 10 minutes well spent. Set aside.

1.2kg beef ribs1 tbsp olive oil

Lower the heat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until softened and starting to colour.

1 onion1 carrot1 stick celery

Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.

4 cloves garlic2 tbsp tomato paste

Pour in the wine, scraping the base well, and simmer for about 5 minutes until reduced by half.

375ml red wine

Add the stock, thyme and bay leaves, return the ribs and any resting juices, and bring to a simmer.

375ml beef stock3 sprigs thyme2 bay leaves

Lid on and into the oven for 2.5 hours, then lid off for a final 30 minutes so the sauce reduces, until the meat is completely tender.

Lift the ribs out carefully, skim the fat from the sauce, and simmer it on the stove a few minutes more if you'd like it glossier. Check the seasoning.

Serve the ribs over mashed potato with the sauce and vegetables spooned generously over.

mashed potato

Appears in

Pack B & Pack D shares — Ribs (~1.2kg)

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Grass Fed Beef Share
From $176.67

The Braising Cut, Full Stop

If braising had a mascot, it would be a bone-in beef rib. The cut brings all three things a great braise needs: connective tissue that melts into gelatine and turns the sauce glossy, marbling that keeps the meat lush through hours of cooking, and a bone that quietly feeds flavour into the pot the whole time. Your Farmer® beef ribs arrive as a rack of about 1.2kg in Pack B and Pack D beef shares, and because grass-fed beef has genuine depth of its own, it stands shoulder to shoulder with half a bottle of red instead of getting lost in it. When the pack thaws, have a look — the fine white threads through the meat are the future sauce, not a flaw.

Swaps and Variations

A handful of button mushrooms added for the last hour is classic. A wide strip of orange zest in with the stock nudges the whole pot toward a Provencal daube. No wine in the house? Use extra stock and stir a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in at the end for the same brightness. Soft polenta or good crusty bread stand in for the mash without complaint. If four ribs won't cover the table, an extra rack of short ribs doubles the pot with no change to the method — and when Sunday calls for the other end of slow cooking, the grass-fed beef roast is its dry-heat cousin.

Storage and Leftovers

Like most braises, this one is famously better on day two — cool it, refrigerate overnight, lift off the set fat and reheat gently. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for up to 3 months. The leftover move: shred the meat back through the sauce and toss it with pappardelle and a shower of parmesan. That's not leftovers; that's a second dinner party.

The rack that makes it all possible turns up with Pack B and Pack D deliveries — reserve a grass-fed beef share and let winter Saturdays plan themselves.

Frequently asked questions

What red wine should I use?

Anything dry that you'd happily drink a glass of — a shiraz or cab sav is ideal. Avoid sweet styles; the braise concentrates whatever you give it.

Can I make it a day ahead?

Please do — it's genuinely better. Cool it, refrigerate overnight in the pot or a container, lift off the set fat and reheat gently on the stove.

Does the alcohol cook out?

Most of it goes in the reduction and the long braise, though not every last trace. If you'd rather skip it entirely, use extra stock and finish with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

I don't have a heavy ovenproof pot — what then?

Brown the ribs and cook the vegetables in a frying pan, then transfer everything to a deep baking dish covered tightly with a double layer of foil. Same oven, same times.

My sauce is thin at the end.

Lift the ribs out and simmer the sauce hard, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes. There's no flour in this braise — reduction is what thickens it, and the bones' gelatine does the rest.

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